Grizzlies come from behind, top Tigers in first round of state tournament

Colton Smith came off the bench to make a critical steal with less than 10 seconds left in the game, and Aaron Baune dropped in a pair of free throws as the Grizzlies survived Tigard, 61-58. in a first round 6A state tournament game at The Furnace Wednesday.

McMinnville battled the entire contest to overcome turnovers and a stout Tigard team.

The Grizzlies fell behind 16-12 at the end of the first quarter and 27-26 at the half. McMinnville suffered from nine turnovers in the first half which stole offensive opportunities and gave extra shots to Tigard. McMinnville also shot an anemic four of nine from the free throw line in the first half.

A missed stuff by Aaron Baune early in the third period led to a 34-28 Tigard lead. Near the mid point of the third, Tigard pushed to a 39-30 lead. McMinnville, taking advantage of foul-prone Tigers slowly worked its way back into the game, led by Bane's determined inside play. Third quarter ended with Luke Arzner hitting a driving bank shot and the free throw to pull the Grizzlies to 42-45.

The fourth quarter, a back-and-forth ordeal between the two squads, saw Baune hit a deep step-back three with a hand in his face to tie the score at 45. From there neither team more than two point lead.

With 32 seconds remaining in the game, and the score knotted at 56, Tigard came out of a time out looking to set-up for the last shot of the game. In a loose-ball scrum both teams were called for technical fouls which official eventually whistled as a jump ball with Tigard receiving possession.

Baune missed his first free throw, but canned the second, For Tigard, Stevie Schlabach canned both of the technicals to give Tigard the lead, 58-57. With 16.4 seconds left, the Grizzlies put a wall of defenders around Schlabach on the inbounds play., He received the ball on the inbounds pass, but was called for traveling.

Grizzlies tossed the ball to Baune, who drove to the rack and was hammered once again. He went to the line 9.9 second left, dropped two free throws with a Tigard time out between the two., That gave the hosts a 59-58 lead.

On the inbound pass, Smith, playing like a defensive back in football, perfectly timed the interception of the pass. He got the ball to Baune to again drove to the hoop where he was fouled. He dropped in both free throw for the 61-58 lead with under eight seconds. The Grizzlies played smart defense, denying Tigard the opportunity for a clean shot.

The final shot of the game went out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left on the clock. Mac's inbound pass also went out of bounds withy .9 seconds left. Tigard was never able to get off a shot and the Grizzlies head to the second round.

Baune led all scores with 31 points,

They will be tested against the number two ranked Grant Saturday. The game, which will be played at Marshall High School in a 5 p.m. tip-off.